Domino City Shuffle
by aonalion
Summary: Otogi invites Jonouchi to his apartment just to hang out with him, but it soon becomes clear Otogi is missing something very important. But what? Otogi x Jonouchi, oneshot


When Otogi opened the door a broadly grinning Jonouchi was standing on the other side.

"Hey, Jou!" the dice-master greeted him warmly. "I'm so glad you could come; I was really getting lonely." He stepped aside and allowed the blond to come in and take off his jacket. "With my shop being renovated I can't just hang around there all day and the workers have spread out their stuff all over the bottom floor, so I can't even play DDM at the arena!"

"No problem, ya know ya can always call me if yer bored," Jonouchi said with the same old smile. "So what are we doin'?" he asked and looked around expectantly.

"Oh, I don't know. Anything you want I suppose. We could just watch a movie and eat unhealthy stuff?"

Jonouchi laughed and started walking into the apartment.

"Sounds like a plan!"

Otogi smirked and followed him. He liked Jou. The blond was so simple, easy to please and always up for something fun. He couldn't help but like being around non-complicated people every once in a while – to be with someone who didn't have to turn everything into a drama or a fight, unlike most of his other friends.

"I have all of my DVDs in here," Otogi said once he caught up with Jonouchi. The blond had stopped in the middle of the living room, looking around as if in search of something. His smile had faded slightly. Otogi led him over to the, rather large, shelf filled to the brim with DVDs of all genres. "I've seen pretty much all of them, but you can choose one you haven't seen," he offered.

"Yeah, sure…" Jonouchi said quietly. He didn't sound completely present, but looked through the titles one by one. Otogi smiled slightly at his concentrated expression and went out into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

When he came back out again, carrying a bowl of popcorn and two cans of soda, Jonouchi was already sitting in the couch, trying to figure out which remote controlled what. Otogi grinned and took the right one, along with the DVD.

"'Lucky Number Slevin'? Good choice, I like that one. You haven't seen it?" Jonouchi only hummed as a response. "Well, I won't spoil anything."

Otogi turned on the TV and started playing the DVD, and then he threw himself down on the sofa next to the blond. He gave Jonouchi a soda before opening one himself and leaning back as the opening credits rolled by.

Watching a movie was always more exciting with someone else, even if it was one you had seen before, but it didn't take long before Otogi realized something was wrong. Jonouchi sat perfectly still with his eyes focused on the TV – but it was as if he didn't really see it. He didn't even flinch when the main character got punched in the face, and he didn't laugh along with Otogi when the main character started getting into trouble. The only real response the dice-master got from him was a deep sigh every now and again.

Otogi shot the blond a concerned look, bit his lip for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask:

"You don't like it?"

Jonouchi blinked and snapped his head towards Otogi. There was a brief pause before he managed to put on his usual smile, which Otogi didn't fail to notice.

"Nah, it's fine. I like it."

"You sure?" Otogi said and raised an eyebrow. "We could watch another one, you know."

"No, no, it's cool!" As if to prove his point, Jonouchi quickly grabbed a handful of popcorn, but then slowed down and ate them one by one instead of shoving them all into his mouth, like Otogi honestly thought he would. The dice-master frowned and drew his legs up to his chest up, resting his chin on his knees and silently watching the blond for a while.

"Is it your dad?"

Jonouchi snorted, but it wasn't a happy sound.

"It's always ma dad." He was quiet for a moment, and then added: "No… it's not him."

Without noticing it himself, Otogi reached up and started playing with a lock of his own hair. He practically never saw Jonouchi like this, and it bothered him. He knew the blond often had trouble with his dad, and that things didn't always work out for him in school, but normally he would just shrug it away with one of his trademark grins – the ones where you couldn't help but start smiling as well when you saw it.

Jonouchi had seemed fine when he first got there.

A horrible thought suddenly struck Otogi. What if it was his fault Jonouchi was suddenly like this? What had he done? They had barely spoken since he got there, so how could he screw up without saying anything? Then he realized… what if _not_ saying anything _was_ screwing up. What if Jonouchi had been so thrilled about coming there because it could've been a chance for them to simply talk for once? Maybe Jonouchi didn't want to watch a movie at all. Maybe he wanted to do something else – play DM or DDM or go out somewhere… It could be anything. And instead they were stuck in here watching a crappy old movie.

"Jou… what do you want to do?" Otogi asked softly. The blond blinked and looked up at the dice-master again. There wasn't any laughter in his eyes anymore.

"Watchin' a movie is fine," he said and looked away again.

"But it obviously isn't! You're not having a good time and I want to know why!" Otogi said, just a little annoyed now. He wished he knew what he had done wrong so he could fix it. Jonouchi cringed and didn't meet his eyes. "… What did I do?" Otogi finally asked, his tone slightly desperate at this point.

"Ya didn't do anythin'…" Jonouchi murmured and tapped his fingers against the soda can. "That's the thing."

"… What?" Otogi asked quietly, a foreboding feeling rapidly building up inside him. "What have I missed?"

"My birthday," Jonouchi replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

A jolt of shock went right through Otogi's system, making his eyes widen. No… it couldn't… had he really…?

"When is- Is it _today?_" the dice-master asked, his worried eyes fixed on Jonouchi. The blond was looking down at his own hands, but Otogi could've sworn he saw a tint of pink on his cheeks.

"Nah. January 25th." Jonouchi drank up the last of his soda and put down the can, but still didn't meet Otogi's eyes. So it had been a little more than a week ago. Why hadn't Jonouchi said anything earlier? Otogi was about to open his mouth to say something, apologize, but the blond was faster. "An' when ya invited me 'ere I almost thought ya would have a surprise party or that ya had a gift to me or somethin', but… well…"

Otogi nearly cringed. The guilt was rapidly eating him up from the inside out, and the forlorn tone in Jonouchi's voice was something he had never heard before. He couldn't believe he had missed the blond's birthday! He hadn't even had a thought about when it was or what he wanted. He had just happily skipped along and looked forward to his own birthday, which was a little more than a month later.

"Jonouchi, I'm so sorry," the dice-master said and turned more towards him, putting a reassuring hand on the blond's knee. "I honestly didn't know and now I feel horrible. I should've known it was your birthday and I should've gotten you something."

"Nah, I don't care 'bout gifts…"

"I could've thrown you the biggest party this town has ever seen! I can still do it, too! Just give me a day or two and –"

"Otogi!" Jonouchi said and looked up, meeting the dice-master's eyes for the first time in quite a while. Otogi looked at him with a wrinkle of worry between his eyebrows; he couldn't read Jonouchi's expression at all. "I don't want a party."

"Well… What do you want, then?" Otogi asked. At this point he was willing to do pretty much anything to make up for the fact that he had actually forgotten about the blond's birthday. "Do you want to… go to the movies or a restaurant or the carnival? … Do you want to kick my ass in Duel Monsters?" Jonouchi grinned slightly, but had lowered his eyes again, and shook his head. "Jonouchi…" Otogi pleaded, and unconsciously moved his hand over the blond's knee.

Jonouchi froze.

Otogi did as well, but only for a few short seconds. Then he repeated the movement, very much consciously this time. He could tell Jonouchi's breath sped up. The third time he did it the blond's hand shot up and grabbed his own, tearing it away. Otogi drew in a sharp breath but then met Jonouchi's eyes – they were slightly wider than usual, filled with surprise, shock even, but also curiosity… and desire.

The dice-master couldn't help but smile ever so slightly, and moved so he was better facing the blond. He didn't know when it had happened, but he could feel Jonouchi's arm around him and the touch warmed him. He definitely knew what that feeling meant, and he leaned in closer to Jonouchi. The blond gulped as the tips of their noses nearly touched.

"Is this what you want?" Otogi whispered against his lips, his eyes half-lidded. He knew he shouldn't tease him, not after what he had done, and yet he couldn't help it. Jonouchi tentatively nodded but before Otogi could close the final gap between their lips the blond did it for him, crashing their lips together in an almost painful way.

Otogi moaned softly at the unexpected rush of excitement flowing through his body – Jonouchi definitely knew what he was doing, and he was _good_ at it. He was also very passionate. One of his hands had immediately gone up to Otogi's long hair, drawing his fingers through it and playing with his ponytail. His other hand had already sneaked up under his shirt, stroking his bare back and forcing him closer, so their bodies were pressed together.

Without breaking the kiss – because that was the last thing he wanted to do right now – Otogi managed to move around until he could climb onto Jonouchi's lap, straddling him. The blond seemed to appreciate it and let out a low moan that sent a jolt straight to Otogi's stomach. It was a long time ago since Otogi had been kissed like that, and he couldn't help but letting out a light laugh as Jonouchi's mouth left his and the blond started kissing his neck instead, just as passionately as before.

"Maybe I should… nngh… forget your birthday… more often?" Otogi panted, still with a smirk on his face.

"Please don't," Jonouchi murmured into his neck, nibbling at his skin for a moment. Then he broke away and looked up at the dice-master, who looked down at him with a soft smile. But then a slight frown swept across Jonouchi's face for a moment. "I hope ya realize this doesn't make up fer ya forgettin' my birthday."

"Of course not," Otogi reassured him and leaned in to give him a sweet kiss. "I can take you out on a proper date for starters?" The frown on Jonouchi's face darkened. "I can… let you take me out on a proper date?" Otogi tried again. Jonouchi started grinning, and Otogi knew he was right. "But first of all, I think we're going to have to restart the movie."

"Mhm. In a moment," Jonouchi said and drew Otogi's head down into another kiss, making him smile.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Okay, so before you say anything, "Lucky Number Slevin" is SO good. If you haven't seen it, go watch it! And the title is a reference to the movie, it's a song called "Kansas City Shuffle" - when everyone looks to their right and you step to the left.

Jou and Otogi are so cute together. I'll have to write more with them. Oh, and Otogi's birthday is February 28th :3 (Foreshadowing...)


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